It is sad that Sir Thomas Beecham, as a performer if not as a commentator, was largely ignored by the television companies. There is only one BBC programme of him conducting, and the other programmes that have survived were made in the United States and Canada. This Radio Canada film, recorded in Montreal in March 1956, was rediscovered and restored only recently.

In black-and-white with limited mono sound, not helped by a dry studio acoustic, this cannot compare with Beecham’s audio recordings of the period, but one can forgive that when the physical presence of the great man is well caught in many of the camera-angles, notably those of his face in close-up. The bright boot-button eyes are what transfix you, and one can well imagine the impact his beetling stare must have had on the players. Only rarely is there a flicker of a smile as he registers some Mozartian felicity. At other times his purposefulness mien offers a visual analogue to the energy and magnetism of the performances.

Not that the close-ups constitute more than a fraction of the film. One sees him first from behind, a surprisingly stubby figure in tailcoat. The shots of the orchestra are a little stiff, and each work starts rather abruptly, but the atmosphere of the occasion is well caught.

Amaryllis is one of the orchestral suites that Beecham himself orchestrated from bits of various Handel operas. He did not otherwise record it complete, and it makes a delightful opener. The pity is that the separate movements are not identified either in the spoken television announcements (in French and English) or in the paltry leaflet that comes with the DVD.

The leaflet does print the texts of the two concert arias which the Swiss soprano, Maria Stader, sings in the middle of this hour-long concert. Mozart wrote the aria K418 as an insert for Anfossi’s opera, Il curioso indiscreto; it is a formidable piece which challenges even Stader’s remarkable technique. K217, written to go into Galuppi’s Le nozze, is far lighter, and suits Stader even better in her Susanna vein. She is even more poorly served by the dry acoustic than are the players, and it is a tribute to her that her bright, fresh, ideally flexible voice sounds so well even with no bloom on it. The film does not flatter her, giving the impression that she has her eyes permanently closed – a big contrast with Beecham.

The Prague Symphony provides a splendid climax, a typical Beecham performance, with brisk, energetic outer movements – relaxing affectionately for the second subject in the first movement – and a warmly moulded slow movement. The players, too, sound happier than in earlier items. Whatever the limitations in sound, and the short measure offered, it is good to be offered an hour in the company of one of the most characterful of all conductors.